Q So, Mr. Vice President, Tony Blair is announcing that the
British are beginning their withdrawal from Iraq. Are you concerned
about that?

THE VICE PRESIDENT: No, they've indicated for some time now that
they were going to make adjustments based on conditions on the ground.
I think they believe that in southern Iraq, that Basra region where
they've been most active, we have made significant progress. And I
think that's one of the reasons they feel that they can draw down their
forces there. I believe they're at the same time continuing to be very
active in Afghanistan. And they'll continue with some forces in Iraq,
but it won't be the same level it was at before.

Q But how does it look to the American people to see our most
important ally begin to pull their troops out as we're actually sending
more troops in?

THE VICE PRESIDENT: I look at it, and what I see is an affirmation
of the fact that there are parts of Iraq where things are going pretty
well. The focus that we've had, obviously, is Baghdad and the decision
the President made to surge troops into Baghdad. The Baghdad Security
Plan is based on conditions in Baghdad.

But in fact, I talked to a friend just the other day, a guy who
knows the region very well, has spent a lot of years in that part of the
world who had driven from Baghdad down to Basra in seven hours, found
the situation dramatically improved compared to where it was a year or
so ago, sort of validated the British view that they have made progress
in southern Iraq, and that they can therefore afford to reduce their
force posture.

Q Now regarding the U.S. surge, the Congress is now on record
opposing the President's policy --

THE VICE PRESIDENT: Well, the House is on record with a Sense of
the Congress resolution.

Q Does it matter?

THE VICE PRESIDENT: Well, it's an important debate. I think it's
important to remember that this is a Sense of the Congress resolution,
that it doesn't have any binding impact or effect. It's still hung up
in the Senate because the Democrats haven't agreed to allow our guys to
vote on a resolution they'd like to have a vote on which would be a
commitment not to reduce funding for the troops when they're in the
field. So there's a certain amount of politics involved, I suppose.

The important thing is that we go forward with a successful
strategy to prevail in Iraq. Ultimately, this ought to be about winning
in Iraq, not about posturing on Capitol Hill. And I think the important
debate will come up down the road when we get time to vote, for example,
on the supplemental, or if there are votes in the meantime that do have
a significant impact, have a binding impact, if you will, especially
with respect to appropriations.

Q Because Congressman Murtha and Speaker Pelosi have made it
clear that what they would like to do is they would like to stop the
surge. Can they do it? Do they have the power to stop the surge?

THE VICE PRESIDENT: I don't think so. The question is whether or
not they have the votes. Jack Murtha is an old friend of mine. We've
done a lot of business together over the years. When I was Secretary of
Defense, he was perhaps my closest ally on Capitol Hill. Jack clearly
has a different perspective. With respect to Iraq, I think he's dead
wrong. I think, in fact, if we were to do what Speaker Pelosi and
Congressman Murtha are suggesting, all we'll do is validate the al Qaeda
strategy. The al Qaeda strategy is to break the will of the American
people -- in fact, knowing they can't win in a stand-up fight, try to
persuade us to throw in the towel and come home, and then they win
because we quit.

I think that's exactly the wrong course to go on. I think that's
the course of action that Speaker Pelosi and Jack Murtha support. I
think it would be a huge mistake for the country.

Q Now you just made a very clear statement in your speech saying
the American people do not support a policy of retreat.

THE VICE PRESIDENT: I believe that.

Q Is that policy that we hear from the Speaker of the House,
Nancy Pelosi -- from other Democrats, is that a policy of defeat?

THE VICE PRESIDENT: Yes.

Q So the American people don't stand with the Democrats, what
the Democrats are trying to do?

THE VICE PRESIDENT: I think the American people want to see first
and foremost success in Iraq. I think the preference would be -- even
those who are not happy with the current situation, given a choice would
prefer a situation in which we succeed in Iraq in terms of being able to
deal with the security situation, turn things over to the Iraqis so the
Iraqis can govern themselves. But I think to do what Nancy Pelosi is
suggesting -- and she's made it very clear on many occasions that she,
in fact, wants to get out -- that that's exactly the wrong medicine.
It's the wrong course of action. It will do nothing but encourage the
terrorists. And it will have the devastating long-term consequences in
the global war on terror.

You can't look at Iraq in isolation. You've got to look at it in
terms of its impact, what we're doing in Afghanistan, what we're doing
in Pakistan, what we're doing in Saudi Arabia. All those areas are part
of the global battlefield, if you will, and you can't quit in one place
and then persuade all your allies who are helping you in all those other
theaters, if you will, to continue the fight. So the thing we need to
do is to let the President's strategy have an opportunity to work. The
Senate just confirmed Dave Petraeus unanimously -- not a single vote
against him -- and then you've got a lot of senators turning around
saying, but, we don't want to give you the resources you need to do the
job we've asked you to do for us. So I do think that the important
thing here is that we support the troops and we support the strategy,
that we give it a chance to work, and that we not lose sight of the fact
that our ultimate objective has to be victory.

Q And I wanted to ask you -- you probably heard John McCain
again come out and say that your friend Donald Rumsfeld is perhaps the
worst Secretary of Defense ever. What do you make of that?

THE VICE PRESIDENT: I just fundamentally disagree with John. John
said some nasty things about me the other day, and then next time he saw
me, ran over to me and apologized. Maybe he'll apologize to Rumsfeld.

Q So what's your take on where Secretary Rumsfeld fits in?

THE VICE PRESIDENT: I think Don's a great Secretary [sic]. I know
a little bit about the job. I've watched what he's done over there for
six years. I think he did a superb job in terms of managing the
Pentagon under extraordinarily difficult circumstances. He and John
McCain had a number of dust-ups over policy, didn't have anything to do
with Iraq -- other issues that were involved. John's entitled to his
opinion. I just think he's wrong.

Q And I know we're just about out of time, but I wanted to
clarify, Senator McCain had said that the problem with President Bush is
he listened to you too much. So this is what he was apologizing to you
for?

THE VICE PRESIDENT: Yes, yes.

Q What did he say?

THE VICE PRESIDENT: Well, he came up to me on the floor a couple
of days later, the next time I was on the floor of the Senate, said he'd
been quoted out of context, and then basically offered an apology which
I was happy to accept.

Q Another senator that's been involved in this debate is, of
course, Senator Clinton. Now, Senator Clinton has been trying to figure
out whether or not she should apologize for her vote in favor of the
resolution. She has just come out and said that she is not going to
apologize for that vote, that if people want to hold that against her,
they should find other people to vote for. Do you admire that?

THE VICE PRESIDENT: Well, I think -- I'm not going to get involved
in the presidential campaign. The President and I have both sworn off
commenting on the give and take of the campaign in both parties. It's
already well underway, and so I'll withhold comment for now.